400: Chapter 400 What is Deterrence?

"Can you run away?"

Han Jingyang's expression remained unchanged as he swung his sword once more.

This sword swing was almost identical to the previous two, with the only difference being a slightly larger range of motion.

Just a little bit larger.

Just a tiny bit.

The next second.

After the same "whiz" sound passed, the three thick-browed burly men collapsed to the ground in unison, their manner of death identical to that of Huang Zhiyun.

The private room was deathly silent.

No one else made a sound.

Even the three allies, Liu Jing, Shi Xiaoya, and Yang Jinyuan, held their breath tightly.

The middle-aged woman still sitting in the private room was trembling, not daring to move, fearing it might cause a misunderstanding.

It wasn't until Han Jingyang let out a breath and stumbled, almost falling over.

"Damn!"

Exhausted.

Some skills cannot be used recklessly.

This is the result of overexertion.

It turns out not all skills consume the Qi inherent in the items; some skills also consume one's own essence, energy, and spirit.

I was careless.

But it was worth it!

Three sword swings to wipe out this group of people—from who knows what organization—was very cost-effective.

At least as long as he is around, these people won't dare to casually target those around him again.

What is called deterrence?

This is it.

Only what is earned through real fighting is called deterrence.

How did a certain great Eastern power achieve its status?

By begging for mercy?

By buying it with money?

By working for it?

None of those. It was fought for, forcefully beaten out. It beat up the other rogue nations one by one, and after that, it beat up the surrounding lackeys. It fought countless hard battles, big and small, and never gave an inch in various open and covert struggles. Only then was the foundation laid for the subsequent economic takeoff; otherwise, it wouldn't have been that simple.

The harder you fight in the early stages, the more comfortable you will live in the later stages.

This principle applies everywhere.

Han Jingyang only understood this after spending some time in the Jianghu, which is why he acted decisively when facing Zhang Dahai, wiping out Zhang Dahai and Yang Zhixiao with thunderous momentum, and now, these people like Huang Zhiyun.

Fight.

Fight to establish prestige, fight to make a name for yourself, fight until no one dares to challenge you, and life will be easier in the future.

Although it's impossible to completely eliminate challengers, it can definitely be significantly reduced.

Although the method he just demonstrated was not as powerful as "One Sword Frosty Fourteen Provinces", its deterrent effect was not bad either.

If "One Sword Frosty Fourteen Provinces" is a nuclear weapon.

Then "Sword God Possession" is a DF-17, one of the most terrifying and brutal killing moves among conventional weapons, and the kind that catches people off guard.

This is to tell those who are watching him that not only does he have nuclear weapons, but his conventional weapons are equally deadly. Before provoking him, they should think carefully about the consequences and consider whether they can afford them.

Liu Jing and Shi Xiaoya simultaneously supported Han Jingyang: "Boss, are you okay?"

Han Jingyang waved his hand: "Just a bit exhausted."

As he said this, he looked at the middle-aged woman: "Sister-in-law, clean up, get ready to leave."

The middle-aged woman hesitated for a moment, then took off a pendant from her neck.

The next second, her true face was revealed; it was indeed Doudou, also known as Zhou Fangfei.

Doudou didn't even look at the corpses beside her; she ran quickly to Han Jingyang, lowered her head like a student who had made a mistake, and handed the pendant to Han Jingyang, saying timidly: "It, it was given to me by them."

Han Jingyang glanced at it.

It was a dharma instrument.

It seems its main function is to change one's appearance, that is, a disguise.

Good stuff!

Since it belongs to the enemy, I'll keep it.

Han Jingyang didn't stand on ceremony at all, then said to Shi Xiaoya: "Call the police, this scene will take a while to clean up." He then said to Liu Jing and Yang Jinyuan: "You two go loot the bodies."

Only then did he ask Zhou Fangfei: "Why did you follow them?"

"They..."

"Tell me. With me here, they wouldn't dare do anything to you, let alone your family."

"They called me and said that I had already attracted a lot of attention, and that many organizations and individuals wanted to get hold of me for research. They said they were a peace-loving organization, registered with the authorities, and were the best choice. They could provide me with the best treatment and ensure the safety of me and my family."

"And you believed them?"

"I, I had no choice."

"Still afraid of death," Han Jingyang shrugged: "But that's normal. Even ants cling to life, let alone humans. However, you ignored someone as reliable as me and instead trusted an organization you had never contacted before. What were you thinking?"

Zhou Fangfei lowered her head and continued: "I had... contacted them before."

"Contacted them?"

"Yes."

"When?"

"Two months ago, but at the time I didn't know who they were. I only knew their attitude was quite good. They pointed out my problems back then, but I didn't understand anything at the time, so, so I didn't agree to them..."

Good grief.

They set the plan early.

No wonder she followed so obediently; they were old acquaintances.

It can only be said that Huang Zhiyun's group had clever methods, especially their intelligence gathering capabilities, which were quite outstanding. They could find Zhou Fangfei directly in the vast crowd, leave a good impression first, and then wait for an opportunity to take over.

With the good impression left previously, taking over would naturally be much smoother.

Thinking of Huang Zhiyun, he frowned and asked: "Do you know the name of their organization?"

"They never mentioned it to me."

"Do you know their real-world identities?"

"I only contacted two people. One is Boss Huang, and the other is Mr. Wang."

"Alright," Han Jingyang led Doudou out of the private room, saying as they walked: "Now I'll give you two choices. Listen carefully, you have to make your own decisions."

"Please tell me."

"One, stay in Quancheng, stay by Wang Zhiwei's side. Given my relationship with Wang Zhiwei, your safety will definitely be guaranteed. Two, let me perform a purification on you, turning you into an ordinary person, and then you can live a normal life. Go wherever you want, and never worry about being targeted by anyone again."

These two choices represented two completely different lifestyles.

The former still counts as being in the metaphysics circle and even has the opportunity for better development, but it carries risks.

The latter is safer, but requires returning to the life of an ordinary person, never to touch metaphysics again.

It sounds simple, but in reality, it is extremely difficult to choose.

Because the peaceful and normal life of an ordinary person and the magnificent and exciting life of the Jianghu are both extremely attractive. Most people want a peaceful life but are reluctant to stay away from the colorful world of the Jianghu.

Han Jingyang is just like that.

Although Zhou Fangfei was a victim and passively became a human dharma instrument, she had indeed stepped into the door of the metaphysics circle. Having contacted, understood, and even personally felt the wonders of metaphysics, it would be strange if she could just let it go.

As expected, Zhou Fangfei hesitated for a moment and whispered: "I'll stay in Quancheng, stay, stay by Old Wang's side."

"Good, remember your choice. Don't regret it. This world has everything except regret medicine," Han Jingyang nodded, went downstairs, stood at the entrance of the restaurant, looked back at the "Changle Private Kitchen" sign for a few seconds, suddenly made a throat-slitting gesture at the surveillance camera next to the sign, turned around and left, brushing past Zhang Zhiyang and the others who had rushed to the scene. Neither paid the other any mind.

Just as he got into the car, preparing to return to Jiguang Zhai, his phone rang. It was a call from Dongpo Village chief Zhou Jianjun: "Little brother, come and take a look quickly, something big has happened."